Martinsburg gazette. (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1886-1887, 1887-03-04

Wouiu nave given time L0r the cI8m0I-
ing and pleading of his human nature
against the voice of cod. However,
heavy his heart, and dark the mystery,
the command of God was clear. Abra-
ham, take now thy son, thine only son
whom thou lowest, even Isaac, and get
the into the land of Moriah and offer
him these for burnt offering upon
one of the mountains which will tell
the of. We find that this heroic man
does not stop to confer with flesh and
blood, when the voice of God is heard.
He does not even mention the matter
to Sarah his wife, lest maternal and
paternal feeling should so nightly pre-
vail as to weaken his purpose to obey
God. How often when our natures
plead against some special command Of
God we take counsel of those who are
more in sympathy with our weakness
than with Gods holiness. The result
is failure on our part. We find Abra-
ham not only prompt and resolute, but
also provided with these things nee
cessary that the obedience may be com
plete, the wood, the fire, the knife, and
his son Isaac. Further he leaves his
servants at the foot of the mount lest
they might in some way interfere with
HIS COulplCtG ODCQlCuIC u sAOO. AOn-
trast with this obedience the disposition
of many to-day who on the contrary so
order all their affairs as to render it
next to impracticable to obey God.
Abraham is sustained by an unfalter-
ness of God. We are told in the n. i.
that it was by FAITH he did this. By
faith Abraham when he was tried offer
- I.noo orN1,,x, &s..rr &1,ak Cnd xtyac
able to raise him up even from the
dead 2 Heb. IL; I7-Io. Abraham felt
that there was nothing too hard for
God, and that God was Just as able to
raise his son from those ashes as he
was to give him to him as he did. This
seems to be the subtimest exhibition Of
faith ever given by man. He reached
this lofty eminence only by trusting
God with an obedient faith in each
previous event, since Gods voice was
first heard
See as consequence. Gods great
blessing resting upon mans implicit
trust in him. While the hand is up
lifted to slay his Son there is heard a
cry from heaven, saying, abraham,
4x1braham, lay not thine hand up
-on the lad, neither do thou anything
unto him, for now / know that thou
fearest cod, seeing that thou hast not
withheld thy Son, thine only Son from
me. from this may we not learn
with Abraham, that though some of the
requirements of God seem overwhelm-
inglv difficult, but in the performance
the difficult all vanishes for cod is there,
Then the special tokens of Gods favor
that followed fi1ial obedience. All !
the transports that filed the bosom of
Abraham on his descent from Mt. Nor
iah. His dear body was with him, his
conscience was unreared, and the di-
vine promises like halo of glory en-
circled him, while these words we're
ringing in his ears, by myself have
sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou
hast done this thing, and hast not with
held thy Son, thine only Son, that IN
blessing I will bless thee, and in multi
plying will multiply thy seed as the
stars Of the heaven, and as the sand
upon the sea shore, and in thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed" Have we too not been bless
ed in proportion as we have surrender
ed ali to cod. Our Lord has. said !:
Verify j say unto You, there is no man
that has left house, or brethren, or sis
tiers, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for my sake, and
the gospels, but he shall receive a hum
bred fold now in this time, and in the
world to come-eternal life.
"A BROTHER.
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